


Identity

by bell (bellaboo)



Category: Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-21
Updated: 2015-12-21
Packaged: 2018-05-08 02:52:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5480567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bellaboo/pseuds/bell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The paint is to accentuate the Queen's power.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Identity

A drop of red on either cheek. The upper lip painted in its entirety. A vertical stripe down the center of the lower one.   
  
Underneath, the face is chalky white.  
  
This is what transforms Padmé Naberrie into the Queen of Naboo.  
  
Naboo's history textbooks state that there have been 119 Queens since the foundation, four hundred and sixty one years ago, of the current government. In actuality, there has been but one. The humans of Naboo elect a girl every four years, and once elected, she is made into the image of the first. Naboo has been ruled by the same person since it became a part of the Galactic Republic.  
  
There are countless academic explanations for the significance of the Queen's facial paint. Some say that the white is for peace and the red is for life. Others point to the symmetry and claim that it represents Naboo's aim for harmony. Still others draw an upside-down triangle, saying that it symbolizes a triad. What the elements of this triad are is debated still.   
  
This is all empty theorization.  
  
For the paint is to accentuate the Queen's power.   
  
With a single glance, even those unfamiliar with Naboo recognize her importance. Just as the facial paint transforms the Queen, it transforms all those around her. Slouched postures straighten, fear manifests itself in expressions, resentment becomes clear in body language. In that split second of change, the Queen of Naboo is privy to their inner selves. Their attempt at deceit is what brings out their true nature.  
  
Though Padmé becomes accustomed to the decadence of her life as Queen Amidala, she does not confuse her status with her identity. It would be easy to let the two bleed into each other, to become a single unit. Fortunately at night her maidens remove her make-up, the jewelry, the wigs, the clothes. With half an hour's worth of undress she is Padmé Naberrie once more, ready for a night of sleep. Her dreams are her own.  
  
As a Senator the separation is not so simple. The distance between Senator Amidala and Padmé Naberrie is smaller than from the former to Queen Amidala, however there is no bridge. There is nothing to apply to her face in the morning, nothing to remove at night. While the costumes are elaborate still, impossible to put on without the aid of her maidens, they are not outlandish. These are things she might pick out for herself if she were the daughter of a Naboo aristocrat.  
  
At some point her identity merged with the position. It is a gradual process, a day to day metamorphosis. If she could pinpoint the exact moment this happened she wouldn't have lost sight of Padmé. As it was, she hadn't notice the gaping hole in her self. Her family points out the hole to her, so she starts to visit them less often. The importance of her position, the power she wields, have become an integral part of her. She does not want to be reminded of the sacrifice she has made, makes everyday.  
  
Anakin reminds her. He reminds her without even meaning to. With him, she is suddenly a young woman again, without the responsibilities of a planet and the fate of an entire sentient species on her shoulders. It is not until Anakin, with his unusual mixture of shyness and bravado, makes her laugh over a joke about their ship's pilot, that she realizes she hasn't laughed genuinely in years. From Anakin's mischievous expression, Padmé suspects that he is not done with her yet.  
  
It's not surprising that he remains unimpressed by her position and power. After all, as a boy he had not questioned her disguise as her own handmaiden. Anakin had bonded with the sweet girl who played the older sister in his first interstellar adventure: Padmé. Not Amidala.  
  
That is one of the first things she likes about him. Who she is with him. And that's what scares her the most.


End file.
